About Our Blog:

Our blog addresses the professional and educational development of MPH students. Read along as Jennifer Celio, updates about research and news in the public health field. Jennifer is an MPH student in Health Policy and Management at the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College and is an elected member of their curriculum committee. Her interests include obesity prevention, food insecurity, health disparities, universal health care and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

INFOGRAPHIC: The Supreme Court Got it Wrong; Obamacare’s Unconstitutionality by the Numbers

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, in a landmark 5-4 decision. Unfortunately, they got it wrong. The PPACA, known colloquially as Obamacare, should have been struck down by the high court, as it is both unconstitutional and very costly:

Individual Mandate: Obamacare requires that all Americans carry health insurance or face an annual penalty. The federal government is effectively compelling individual citizens to enter a market, which is a clear violation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that this was constitutionally valid as within Congress’ taxing power.

Medicaid Expansion: As the original Act is written, the PPACA would require states to expand Medicaid support or risk having their entire Medicaid federal funding cut off. This infringes on states’ rights. Fortunately, the Supreme Court did rule against these sanctions.

In response to the ruling, we have produced an infographic (below) titled, “The Cost of Socialized Medicine: Obamacare’s Unconstitutionality by the Numbers”, which illustrates the folly of the PPACA as well as some of the costs that will be borne as a result.

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